21/05/2024 08:30 - 12:00

HALL: FATESI - CAMPO

Proponent: Zuijdwegt G.

Chair: Zuijdwegt G.

Speaker: Adams K., De Witte P., Pycroft A., Zuijdwegt G.

In this closed panel, four experts-cum-practitioners engage the theory and practice of current criminal justice systems from a theological vantage point. Building on recent interdisciplinary encounters between criminology and theology and on concrete work experience within the criminal justice system, the panellists probe the core ideas undergirding current philosophies of criminal justice, especially retribution and reform, in relation to proposed alternatives like restoration and forgiveness. Against a backdrop of prison overcrowding and expansionist policies in many countries, these three timely and original papers will address retribution and (biblical) justice, Catholic social teaching and reform, and forgiveness as a novel criminological paradigm. In a fourth synthetic paper, the chair identifies lines of convergence and divergence between the papers and pinpoints remaining questions. These questions are explored in a moderated discussion between the panellists shaped by input from the audience. This argument-driven and interactive format will allow for a coherent and in-depth analysis of the intersecting fields of theology and criminal justice.